In the push to reduce CO2 emissions in the United States, consumers are purchasing electric vehicles (EVs) at an unprecedented rate, with the newest data showing that 2014 U.S. sales of 100 percent electric cars were up 58 percent. While this is good news for the EV industry, increased EV ownership presents challenges to utility providers since the typical EV driver recharges during the evening – at peak demand. Growing along with this dramatic paradigm shift in transportation are concerns about the impact to our nations’ aging power grid.

With EV home charging stations generally drawing an electricity load of 6.6kW (240V at 30 amps) – approximately the same load of an entire house at 7kW – a single EV can double a home’s peak load. In fact, even low levels of EV adoption in a particular neighborhood could strain existing power infrastructure at times of peak demand.